A Better Life
by Alkuna
Summary: LaCody's owner is negligent and finally, someone decides to do something about it. R&R please.


This story also made it to the Neopian Times called A New Home

This story also made it to the Neopian Times called A New Home. Look in the Old Neopian Times in Week 48 in the short stories. There, it's a very short version, missing a lot of what I added in here. Unfortunately, it was only after it got published that I added to it to make it part romance too. :p Forgive me if it's not the best, this was my first attempt.

Disclaimer: Neopets is not copyright to me. pouts

A Better Life

I slunk carefully and quietly through the streets of Neopia Central. The moon hung high in the diamond-speckled sky, offering surprisingly little of its cold, silver light. Buildings hunched together in the dark, casting pools of the darkest ink and murk onto the ground. Occasionally, I spotted an owner and his pets pad quickly past me, hunched against the icy air. There were few out and about at this time, but I knew there was always a chance of getting caught and sent to the "Adoption Center."

I shivered and melted deeper into the shadows. My thin, poorly kept coat of red fur barely kept out the cold. My long whip like ears and tail burned ever so slightly and my breath puffed before me like the ghosts that haunted the streets. My small, three toed paws made very little noise on the street and my slender body was so malnourished that a telephone pole could easily hide me.

Finally I reached my destination and slunk forward to gently paw at the tattered skirts of the Soup Faerie. I hated having to accept charity, but it was either that or starve to death, and I didn't want that.

The Soup Faerie looked down and smiled kindly at me, "Hello LaCody. Nice to see you again."

I smiled back, a somewhat shaky smile, as the Soup Faerie took two large Thermoses out of my carrying case and filled them with a thick, steaming stew.

"You should come more often hun, you're getting too skinny, even for a gelert," she sealed the Thermoses tightly and put them back into the carrying case.

"I hate having to come."

"Nonsense," the Soup Faerie said sternly, cutting me off, "This is what I'm here for. Tell you what; I'll make a safe path for you to travel on so you can get food every night. Or day if you wanted. You or your kacheek friend can come three times a day and not worry about being taken to the Adoption Center." A softly glowing path appeared behind me, stretching away into the city. "Follow this path. Only you and LaButtana can use it or see it."

Then she gently scratched me behind the ears. "Take care LaCody. Say Hi to LaButtana for me."

I nodded and padded off along the blue path, no longer having to hide in the shadows.

Behind her, a pair of green eyes followed LaCody's form until it was out of sight. The Soup Faerie turned and smiled at the figure, "Well go on. You know enough now. Might as well approach her."

The figure chuckled softly and stretched out long, athletic legs to follow LaCody and hopefully catch up with her.

Halfway home, I stumbled slightly and a Thermos hit the street with a loud clank and rolled off into the shadows.right off the safe path.

I froze, my mind in turmoil. Hesitantly, I started to step off the trail to go after it. Movement caught my eye and I froze again.

Bright green eyes appeared, then resolved into the form of a handsome yellow male gelert with my Thermos gripped in his jaws. A collar nestled around his neck, a gold nametag flashing dimly in the faint light. I couldn't see the name etched on it; it was too dark. He stopped a few feet away and set it down between his front paws. "You dropped something," he smiled easily at me.

"Um, thanks. Would you, um, give it to me...please...now...?" I trailed off, feeling foolish.

The stranger cocked his head and raised an eyebrow at me, still smiling; "I'm doing nothing to prevent you from getting it yourself."

I felt unease prickle along my spine. He was going to make me leave the path, whether or not he knew it was there. I looked around carefully, expecting some sort of ambush but the street was deserted. No one around to cause me trouble, but no one to help me if he became trouble either.

I took a deep breath and stepped off of the path, all the while thinking that I was doing the dumbest thing in a history of dumb things. But only one Thermos was not enough to feed both LaButtana and me. And I couldn't just leave the Thermos; it really belonged to the Soup Faerie.

Stopping just out of paw range, I forced myself to meet the stranger's eyes, "What's wrong with just rolling it to me?"

"Nothing. What's wrong with just taking the Thermos? I'm not that threatening looking am I?" His tail waved gently behind him.

I looked him over again. He was strong, athletic and handsome. He was also in better shape that I was, plus he looked to be a few levels higher. Someone took really good care of him. Which was more than what my owner did, or the babysitters for that matter.

Seeing the answer in my eyes, the stranger chuckled and scooped the Thermos up again. Then he padded toward me.

I immediately backed up until I felt my paws once again rest on the familiar tingle of the safe path. I wanted to just turn and run until my legs had carried my home. But not only could this stranger follow me, but he still had the soup. I HAD to get it home. We were too hungry now to sleep, and half a Thermos each would not be enough.

I stopped backing up, lowered my head and bared my teeth warningly. I was safe on the path and I knew it. If I had to, I would smack him hard with a paw and make a break for it.

The stranger reached my side and paused, looking at me mildly. Then he nosed open the carrying tote and dropped the Thermos in before nosing it closed again, "There. That didn't hurt now did it?" He smiled again, still friendly and easygoing. "What's your name?"

I slowly began backing along the path toward home, "LaCody."

"That's a pretty name. Mine's Healthman." He watched me thoughtfully then said, "Would you like to talk some more? When you have more time I mean."

I dropped my eyes, "I...can't... Really... I..."

I just couldn't say it. I just couldn't admit that my owner was negligent and never around. Which was, of course, why I had to sneak to the Soup Kitchen. A pet without an owner was likely to get caught.

Finally I bit my lip and turned away, "I have to go now."

Healthman kept pace with me, walking by my side easily. He wasn't a chatterbox, which I was grateful for, although his persistence was making me nervous.

_Stop it. You're being paranoid. He had plenty of chances to take you out or do worse to you when you left the path. He's just being nice. Let him walk with you. _I sighed to myself.

Being extremely shy, plus spending all of my time avoiding all other pets no matter the species, I found myself walking alone for most of my life. My only companion, LaButtana the Kacheek, was the only one I confided in.

Healthman stopped at the end of my block and nodded to me, "I'll wait here for you to go inside before heading off. I hope to see you again soon LaCody." He smiled kindly, "It may be sooner than you think."

I swallowed and gave him a somewhat jerky head nod and padded to my front door halfway down the block from him. I muttered the password and glanced back at him, still standing at the edge of the block. I gave him a paw wave before disappearing inside.

Healthman smiled to himself. Littlebluedragon was right; she was VERY shy. Poor girl; she needed a better home. Shaking his head, Healthman turned and started the short trip to his own home.

I kicked the door shut and leaned against it for a moment, trying to wipe from my mind the odd wish that he had hugged me or something before he left.

"LaCody?" came a curious voice from the kitchen.

"Here." I padded into the kitchen and pulled out the Thermoses of still hot soup.

LaButtana eagerly pulled out two large bowls and set the table.

"LaCody? Are you all right?"

I blinked and looked over at my friend, who seemed worried, "Yeah. Why do you ask?"

"You've been staring off into space for ten minutes now. What's going on?" LaButtana was watching me intently.

Slowly at first, then with more confidence, I told my friend about Healthman and the strange feelings I had been having since I had left him.

When I finished, LaButtana chuckled, "In other words, you met a cute guy and got sprung. And he wants to see you again, hinting that it would be soon. I think there's a connection here. Don't avoid this thing Cody; he sounds like a real sweetie."

"Yeah...sure." I finished my soup and padded over to my bed. I curled up and closed my eyes, but it was a long time before I fell asleep.

The next afternoon, we were alerted by the arrival of one of our babysitters. The casual slam of the door and the call "Hey guys!" identified her as Littlebluedragon. "I brought something for you both. Come on into the kitchen."

We trotted out of the front room where we had been working on a rather battered jigsaw puzzle. LaButtana reached the kitchen door first and gave a surprised squeak, skidding to a complete stop in mid step. I reached the doorway seconds later and also stopped.

There was Littlebluedragon putting down a big bag of groceries. And there next to her...was Healthman.

Healthman chose to ignore the look of shock on my face and smiled warmly at me, "C'mon in. We decided to do a little shopping before coming over. I thought you guys could use a few things."

There were two soft lupe plushies, a pair of satin collars complete with gold nametags and a new jigsaw puzzle, plus enough food to last a week.

Littlebluedragon knelt down and put the collars around their necks, "Go on. Take a look at yourselves in the mirror."

I padded to the full-length mirror in the hallway and stared. It looked so out of place. I had lived all of my life in poverty. I had always learned to do without...well, everything. And I knew that it was not really Littlebluedragon who had gotten it for me.

"Red satin looks good on you." I jumped as Healthman joined me at the mirror, his own yellow collar flashing to match mine. "What do you think? Think I chose right for you?"

I swallowed a sudden lump in my throat and nodded, a shy smile making its way to the surface, "Y-yes. Thank you. Thank you so much."

"Now you don't have to hide anymore," Healthman put a paw on my shoulder. "What do you say to an outing? Take a long stroll through the park, hmm? I hear there's a big theme park nearby and admission is free for today."

I glanced away and saw LaButtana give me a big grin and a wink from where she stood at the other end of the hallway.

I turned my attention back to Healthman and smiled, this time managing to make it match his, "It would be a pleasure."

The year passed with amazing speed now that I had someone to spend time with. At first I worried about LaButtana, but she hinted to me that she had found someone of her own to spend her days with.

Healthman came often, sometimes taking me out for the entire day and taking me home late at night. I found it increasingly easier to talk to him and to loosen up. Healthman was sweet, energetic and loved taking me to places where we could have fun. He had a great sense of humor and I couldn't help but laugh as he acted out his jokes.

/--\

For his part, Healthman was becoming more and more attached to LaCody. She was quiet but had a really sweet temper. And if asked what his favorite thing to do was, Healthman would answer promptly, "Spending the day with LaCody."

But his gaze would always become a little sad when they said good night. Somehow the gifts he brought LaCody didn't get rid of that unpleasant empty echo that was always present in her house. That unhappy reminder that LaCody didn't have someone to welcome her home or hug her when he was not there.

Finally, Healthman presented the problem to Littlebluedragon. She nodded, "Ok Health, let's see what we can do about this. I know someone who can take a pet."

Littlebluedragon picked up the phone and dialed a number. "Hello, Tiggersmage? Yeah it's Littlebluedragon. How are you? Oh cool, well I was calling 'cause we have a minor problem. You know LaCody and LaButtana? Well I think it's time we extended an extra helping hand..."

/--\

One of our babysitters, Tiggersmage, came like she always did, checking up on us to make sure we were ok. And as usual, we weren't.

She sighed, looking at us as we lay, our stomachs empty and growling. Our master had been gone for a long time now. The food we were brought didn't last long between the two of us. And kind as the Soup Faerie was, stew never filled us up very well or for very long.

"I really wish she would care for the pets she gets." It was an old gripe. One we were used to hearing from our babysitters.

Our babysitter scratched me behind the ears and gave LaButtana a hug. She stayed for only a few minutes, looking things over, and then she left. It was the usual thing. Our babysitters would check on us, maybe feed us to keep us going and leave. It was more than our owner did, so we were grateful for their time.

My ears drooped with the shutting of the door. Even with the kacheek to keep me company, the days were long and lonely. But then something new happened. Our babysitter came back, looking furious. LaButtana meekly asked her what was wrong.

"I can't believe this," she growled, "Your owner says she's too busy working to take care of you guys. I told her that if she didn't, I was going to take you guys away for your own good and she agreed!"

My jaw dropped and I whimpered helplessly. There was only one way to take us away and that was to send us to the Adoption Center.

"B-but," I stuttered, "But what about Healthman?! I won't be able to see him again!"

Tiggersmage frowned thoughtfully and picked up the phone. After talking back and forth for a while she smiled slightly. "It's all arranged. We'll have to split you guys up, but you'll both be going to good homes."

"S-split up?!" LaButtana stuttered, looking at me in alarm.

Tiggersmage knelt down in front of us, "It's ok. I've made arrangements. You guys can visit each other whenever you want." She put a hand on each of our heads. "LaButtana, I'm going to adopt you and take you home with me. LaCody, my best friend Al'Kuna has agreed to adopt you."

Things were happening too quickly. Tiggersmage split up the few items in our home, letting us choose anything that we wanted to take with us. I made sure to take all of the wonderful gifts that Healthman had given me. Then Tiggersmage packed our stuff into two different bags. Our home was cleaned out completely, and we walked away, never to come back.

We reached the Adoption Center and huddled close to Tiggersmage's side, staring wide-eyed at the comings and goings. Then a teenage girl walked in. A tough looking blue lupe and a sour faced blue gelert followed at her heels. The newcomer had a look that matched her pets: foul tempered and mean. She looked around, spotted us and headed over to meet Tiggersmage.

Was this going to be my new owner? I shrank back behind our babysitter and tried to make myself small and unnoticed. I didn't like the idea of going to a tough or mean home.

Tiggersmage walked forward and greeted the newcomer warmly. "Ahhh Al'Kuna, looking bright and cheery as usual in our settings."

Suddenly no longer hidden, I scrambled forward to hide again, but Al'Kuna's pets had spotted me. I glanced up at Tiggersmage for help but she was talking intently with the sour faced Al'Kuna.

"Well lookie here," the blue Lupe said gruffly, "Looks like we're getting another punching bag."

I gulped and shrank back. The blue gelert walked over and sniffed me from the tip of my delicate nose to my long tail. Then he snorted and sat down, looking amused. "Not much fun there. She'd either run away or just sit and take it."

LaButtana, small as she is, was a loyal little kacheek. She stormed forward and planted herself between the two pets and me. She crossed her arms and glared at them.

"Oooh, tough lil' Kacheek," grinned the lupe.

"You treat my friend nice or so help me I'll..." LaButtana trailed off, leaving the threat hanging. She isn't a fighter either, but she's spunky enough to put on a show.

The blue lupe tilted her head and looked down at LaButtana, "Or you'll what?"

I couldn't help but notice that the lupe's teeth were pure white and very sharp.

"I'll...I'll make you into a fur coat!"

The lupe laughed, not intimidated in the least.

The blue gelert padded over to me while LaButtana was distracted and gave my shoulder a firm nudge with his nose. I turned around fast, my heart beating hard. Was he going to beat me up now?

He smiled, although since he still looked somewhat sour, the smile didn't help me any. "Chill out," he chuckled, "I'm a vegetarian and Alkuna prefers chocolate Chias. We aren't gonna eat you." He nodded over at the Lupe, "Alkuna talks tough, and her sense of humor is rough, but she's the best friend you could ever have."

I blinked, confused for a moment, and then realized that the owner and the pet had the same name.

"You talking about me, Skinny?" Alkuna the lupe demanded, looking over at the glue gelert.

"Yeah I am." He barked back, his voice sounding tough and ruthless.

"Oh. I thought so." Alkuna, sounding mollified and almost meek, turned back to LaButtana, who was keeping up her end of an exchange of fierce words with the lupe.

I giggled softly and the blue gelert grinned, "See? If she acts tough with you, just be tough right back. She loves a good verbal argument and they can get downright funny if you listen to them." The blue gelert looked back at me, his expression softened by a much more friendly smile. "You got a name kiddo?"

I shifted my weight shyly, "LaCody."

"Name's Mercolagos, but everyone calls me Merc. So you're the one we're taking in huh?"

I glanced over at Al'Kuna the human, suddenly frightened again. She was walking over to us.

The lupe and LaButtana broke off their much more friendly banter and my kacheek friend gave me a reassuring smile.

Al'Kuna the human looked me over. "Skinny little thing isn't she?" Her voice didn't give me any hint that adopting me was a good thing at all.

My ears drooped and I dropped my eyes.

Mercolagos padded over to her and murmured into her ear, "Ease off, you're scaring her."

"Really?" Al'Kuna's voice lightened considerably, "Am I frightening you LaCody?"

I didn't look up, but nodded slightly.

She reached out and lifted my chin with a gentle hand. Her face had softened a great deal and the gentle look seemed like it should belong to a different person than the mean looking person who had walked in.

"I'm sorry," she hugged me warmly, "I didn't intend to act mean or scary. LaCody, I have no problems whatsoever with adopting you. When Tiggersmage called me and explained how badly you were being treated, there was no way I could say 'No.' I looked so mean because I was angry at how you were being treated. Mercolagos here has the same story as you do. I adopted him myself when I found him dying in this very Center."

I blinked. So that was why he had looked so sour. This place was full of bad memories for him.

Alkuna the lupe padded over to us and smiled, she too looked friendlier, "Hey pup, why didn't ya say you were a softie? I wouldn't have acted so tough. Teasing pets isn't fun if they don't tease back."

Al'Kuna scratched me behind the ears, which felt good. "Come on. Let's get you home and get you fed. Gelerts are supposed to be skinny, but not THAT skinny."

Tiggersmage paid the abandon fee and Al'Kuna immediately paid to adopt me. Now I officially belonged to Al'Kuna. Seconds later, LaButtana belonged to Tiggersmage. Al'Kuna picked up the suitcase with all of my stuff and as we headed for my new home, I couldn't help but feel as if I was finally going to a REAL home.

Alkuna the lupe insistently worked at getting me to romp with her. She would charge at me full speed, skid to a stop a few inches away and paw at me before spinning around and charging off again. I wondered if she had gone crazy.

Mercolagos bumped my shoulder gently with his, "It's called 'play' sis. Come on. It's a nice day. The grass is long and just begging for a romp." With that he charged after Alkuna.

Hesitantly at first, then with more energy, I charged after my two new siblings. Our owner walked slowly, keeping a steady but relaxed pace. Her gaze wandered lazily over everything, never missing a detail of the scenery on our walk home.

We raced around, chasing each other and wrestling. I swatted Alkuna's tail. Mercolagos tackled me from behind with a playful growl. Alkuna pounced on both of us, then fled with us hot on her tail. We alternated between chasing and play battles. It was very easy to keep up with our owner without having to pause in our fun.

Finally we reached our home. Panting hard but in good spirits the three of us joined Al'Kuna the human at the front door. She said the password clearly so that I would know it and opened the door to let us in. "Ok folks, show LaCody around, give her the basics and get something to eat. I've gotta go shopping; we'll need extra food with another mouth in our family."

I swallowed, "I-I'm sorry. I don't mean to be a burden."

Al'Kuna knelt down and gave me a big hug, "I never said you were sweetie. Trust me, the day any of you become a burden is the day Sloth goes ice- skating in a pink ballerina suit. I am hardly in need of money. You have no excuse to feel bad about coming here. I told you before, I have no problem whatsoever with having another pet around the house."

Mercolagos showed me around the house while Alkuna the lupe began making sandwiches for our lunch. He showed me where everything was and explained the rules of the house. I was surprised to find that the rules here were far different than my last home.

1. Return home in time to get a good night's sleep for the next day.

2. At least leave a note before you run out to have fun.

3. Evening's are for going to the games section, we need a steady income.

4. Eat when you're hungry.

5. Don't forget your studies so you can raise your stats.

6. Respect each other's personal spaces.

Mercolagos had to show me to my room, which I was startled to discover I had one. Not only that, but it was a large room with a real bed. At my last home, "bed" had been a mat with a lumpy pillow in the front room (the only other room had been the kitchen) and I had had no privacy. There on the foot of my bed was my suitcase, untouched and unopened.

Merc left me to unpack. I set about arranging Healthman's gifts and making the room mine. I hung up the beautiful decorative crystal he had given me in the large window. The sun shone through it, sending rainbows to all corners of my room. I sat back and smiled, hardly able to believe that I had come up so far from where I had been.

There was a knock at my door, another surprise for me, and opened it to find Alkuna the lupe. "Come on LaCody," she said gruffly, "Lunch is ready. No more skipping meals for you."

It had been several weeks and I settled into my new home so fast it seemed like I had lived there forever. I soon got used to Alkuna's gruff but gentle manner, although I didn't join in on the banter she often stirred up with Mercolagos.

I stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom on and tried to get the fur on top of my head to behave itself. It was determined to stand up in two different directions.

"It doesn't matter what you do Sis," I turned to see Mercolagos leaning against the door jam. "You'll always look beautiful to him."

Merc was already groomed and ready for his date with QueenAquamarine, his girlfriend. He trotted in, took the brush from me and ran some water over the bristles. Then he proceeded tame my fur.

When he was finished, he stood back and smiled at me, "There. That takes care of that. Now." Merc slipped a jeweled collar (a gift from our owner to wear on very special occasions) around my neck. ".I think you are ready for tonight."

"Merc, would you just tell me what's going on?" I asked him for the hundredth time.

"Uh uh. Healthman and I made a deal. No telling till it's time," Merc kissed my forehead, "Come on Sis. They'll be here any minute."

I followed him to the front room where Alkuna was sprawled lazily on the living room couch. She looked at us and smiled, for once not teasing, "You two look great. I hope you enjoy your evening."

I smiled, walked over and hugged her. "Thanks Alkuna."

"Hey hey, don't muss the fur!"

"Mine or yours?" I grinned at her.

"Mine of course," she growled at me, but she gave me a wink.

There was a knock at the front door and Alkuna was on her feet and answering it before we could even move. "Ewww Lord, as if looking at two skinny mutts weren't enough now there's four of you? Fyora, there's goes my nice day."

Mercolagos and I shared a look and a rolling of the eyes.

"Oh shut up fur face," I heard Healthman say cheerfully.

"Takes one to know one Greyhound."

"You can't talk Miss Wolf," that was QueenAquamarine.

"Oh hurry up and get them and get outta here. Maybe then I'll get some peace." Alkuna turned and walked back into the front room where Mercolagos and I were standing. Unnecessarily she announced, "Your dates are here."

Chuckling, our dates trotted into the front room where we were waiting.

Healthman walked over to me and gave me a kiss, "You ready?"

"You bet."

The evening was fantastic. Health took me out to an expensive dinner and took me dancing. We spent several hours snuggled together watching a fireworks display.

Finally, Healthman turned to me, hiding something under one of his paws, "LaCody? Can I ask you something?"

I kissed him softly, "You just did, hun. But sure."

He smiled warmly at me and revealed a small black box in his paw. He opened it to reveal a beautiful engagement ring, "LaCody. will you marry me?"

My jaw dropped. It took several seconds to collect my voice, but I nodded vigorously. "Oh Healthman... of course I will."

Healthman gently slipped the ring onto my paw and kissed me passionately.

The End.


End file.
